Last week the Public Accounts Committee published its report into the 'Transforming rehabilitation' reforms to probation services. The report was critical of the slow pace of the reforms and of the worrying lack of progress in properly involving the third sector in the programme. Committee Chair Meg Hillier concluded that: 'Government may have cause to regret using the potent language of "revolution" for its Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.'

Michael Gove's recent statement on the status of GCSEs and the introduction of a new qualification – the English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) – have been greeted as another momentous change, but what do the reforms really mean and who is likely to win (and lose) as a result?

High speed train travel is already established in many mainland European countries and in some it has become the major transport mode for long distance internal journeys. In the UK there is only one stretch of high speed railway from St Pancras to the channel tunnel (known as High Speed 1 or HS1) and there does seem to be considerable backing for the development of a second high speed line north of London.